Eurosport and Nissan have jointly launched a model TV project for fun and extreme sports. The weekly TV magazine "Freeride Spirit" will follow four international freeriders over a period of eight months as they prepare for the Freeride World Tour (FWT) 2010. This event series was founded three years ago as part of the Nissan Sports Adventure (NSA). Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager Marketing Communication at Nissan in Europe, was quoted in a press release as saying that Nissan wanted to use the partnership to give the brand more personality and emotion as well as to increase awareness.
From September 2009 to May 2010, a total of 26 quarter-hour magazine programs and four half-hour specials are planned. These will be broadcast on Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport HD. In addition, there will be a corresponding video section on the Eurosport online platform as well as a competition.

Click here for the programs

Vivai was published on Monday with a total circulation of 500,000 copies in German, French and Italian. It is distributed as a supplement to the Migros magazine to a health-conscious target group selected via Cumulus data. Vivai is also available in all Migros fitness parks. The new magazine is intended to support the Migros Group's health and wellbeing offering in terms of communication.

Tattoos are more present than ever. Once you have chosen a motif, it usually stays under your skin for the rest of your life. But what if the feelings of today are no longer the same tomorrow? If the crass rocker was still quite happy with his skull as a 20-year-old, the subject may no longer express his feelings 20 years later. The solution is at hand. Philips Design presents electronic tattoos at the fifth European Futurists Conference Lucerne. The subcutaneous screens under the skin are sensitive to emotions and are intended to be used as a new form of personal communication. The skin is supposed to show how you are feeling. Clive van Heerden, one of the directors of Philips Design, will present the new technology on October 15.
A few questions in advance: How many subjects are there in the repertoire of the new wonder box? And what happens if the technology suddenly spits, if my tattoo suddenly shows pure anger instead of joy at a job interview? And perhaps the most trivial, but at the same time most important question: who could possibly be interested in such a device? Is the skin tattoo suitable as a new advertising format? We are looking for private individuals who voluntarily market their implanted screens as advertising space. The fact that it such is certain in any case.

Caption: Where there was bare skin a moment ago, a floral drawing now meanders over the shoulder. No, this is not magic, but an electronic tattoo.

Six members of Tele News Combi, Tele Züri, Tele Bärn, TeleBasel,
Tele M1, Tele 1 Central Switzerland Television (currently still Tele Tell) and Tele Ostschweiz are merging under the name Tele Regio Combi from 2010. The commercial block offering will continue to consist of the formats "News," "Lifestyle," "Swissdate," "Automobil Revue TV" and "Tierisch. In addition, the TRC stations plan to further expand programming and commercial cooperation.
Marketing of the Tele News Combi will continue to be handled by Radiotele until the end of 2009. From 2010, the new advertising pool will be marketed by the Belcom agency, which already markets the partner station Tele Züri. The newly formed team consists of Andrea Haemmerli (Management), Philip Hofmann (Sales Management), Manuela Birghan and Sabine Körner (both Key Account Managers TRC) and Marco Josi (Product Management).
The rates for the 1st half of 2010 will be published on October 5. Bookings can be made starting Nov. 5, 2009. Nothing will change in the planning, analysis and booking tools, as well as in tape handling, except for the name, the agency announced on Monday.

The Geneva newspaper Le Courrier needs 150,000 francs from now until the end of December. The daily newspaper made an appeal for donations on Saturday in order "to be able to tackle 2010 more calmly", as reported by the SDA. The sum of 150,000 francs "allows the deficit not to be eroded too much". The difficult economic situation has not left the Courrier unscathed. Pressed by the crisis and the loss of purchasing power, many would refrain from renewing their subscription, editor-in-chief Fabio Lo Verso noted in the editorial. The donations would only be used to finance information, Lo Verso emphasized. In recent years, the Geneva daily newspaper had regularly called on its readers to make donations in order to improve the financial situation.
The Quotidien Jurassien is also struggling
The Quotidien Jurassien (QJ) is also struggling with the economic situation. The 120 employees there will not receive a 13-month salary this year. In addition, the weekly working hours of around ten people will be reduced and the subscription price increased. Thanks to these measures, the newspaper should survive the crisis without redundancies. Within eight months, the QJ has lost 20 percent of its advertising revenue due to the crisis, the newspaper announced on a page in Saturday's edition, according to SDA. Despite restrictions at the beginning of the year, further "painful" measures were necessary to ensure the survival of the only cantonal newspaper.

Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (CKW) has been supplying 80 municipalities in the canton of Lucerne with electricity for over 115 years. Ruf Lanz has been communicating for the company since winning the pitch in early summer 2009. Now three further subjects are available, which focus on aspects such as workplace safety, reliable power supply and apprentice training.
Responsible at CKW (Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG): Dominik Müller (Head of Corporate Communications), Vanessa Schönbächler-Ghilardi, Seraina Schmidt (Head of Corporate Communications). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Danielle Lanz, Markus Ruf (Creative Direction), Lorenz Clormann (Art Direction), Andreas Hornung, Markus Ruf (Text), Michael Gassler, Dennis Maitzen, Marcel Mägerle (Consulting). Photography: Laurent Chandon, Oliver Nanzig and archive.

In Germany, a reorganization of the news agency market may take place sooner than expected: The Berlin news agency DDP is about to purchase its rival Associated Press (AP) Germany, as reported by SDA on Friday.
DDP co-owner Martin Vorderwülbecke said on Friday that he wanted to take over 100 percent of the agency and keep it largely as it was. The talks are at a very advanced stage, even though no contracts have been signed yet. It is only a matter of contract details. He no longer expects the talks on the purchase of the US agency's German subsidiary to fail. He expects a deal to be concluded in October. The manager did not want to give any details on the purchase price.
No final agreement reached yet
AP headquarters in New York confirmed negotiations, but emphasized that no final agreement had yet been reached. The talks are about DDP's entry into AP Germany and a long-term agreement on the
Exchange of content, an AP spokesperson said.
The agreement is likely to be very important for DDP in order to gain access to AP's worldwide network of correspondents. The Americans have a good 240 offices in almost 10 countries. If both parties come to an agreement, DDP could have access to the English-language AP news from all over the world.

Television presenter Alfred Biolek accepted the German Television Prize on Saturday evening, unlike Marcel Reich-Ranicki last year. "Dear Marcel Reich-Ranicki, I ask for your understanding, I accept the prize," said the 75-year-old, according to SDA. Reich-Ranicki had turned down the award a year ago, and in an angry speech, he railed against the event and television. There are many things he does not like about television, Biolek now explained. But he stands by this medium.
Ten prizes for ZDF
The trophies for the best actors went to two actors from Austria: Vienna-born Senta Berger was honored for the best female lead and the best male colleague was the
Upper Austrian Josef Hader. ZDF came off best in the comparison of channels: A total of ten prizes went to the second channel, eight to ARD, three to the host Sat.1, two to RTL and one to 3sat. Several productions were honored in a few of the 21 categories.
Hape Kerkeling was left without an award in the best entertainment program category - Thomas Gottschalk received it for the December 13, 2008 edition of "Wetten, dass...?

Swiss referees will soon become whistling advertisers. According to former referee Urs Meier, talks are already underway with a potential sponsor, who will be presented in around a month's time. According to the Sonntagszeitung, shirt sponsorship should enable referees to be better remunerated in future. In fact, the current situation of our referees does not look too rosy compared to other countries: While they earn almost 5,500 francs for a 1st Bundesliga match in Germany, they have to make do with 1,000 francs in Switzerland. So a few more francs for our Swiss really couldn't hurt. And what could be more obvious than decorating the men's shirts with more or less discreet advertising? According to Meier, referees offer an attractive advertising environment: "They embody honesty, sincerity and personality," he is quoted as saying in the Sonntagspublikation. However, he does not want to reveal how much this is worth to sponsors and what will be left over for the poor referees.

Insiders from the media industry are putting forward a new candidate for the post of SRG CEO: Edipresse CEO Tibère Adler. As the Sonntagszeitung writes in its current edition, the 46-year-old from Geneva is set to succeed Armin Walpen, who will retire at the end of 2010. Adler is a lawyer and a graduate of the IMD management school. "He therefore fits the profile that the Nomination Committee of the SRG Board of Directors will present next Tuesday: They are looking for an experienced top manager with affinities to the media industry."
Regarding a possible candidacy, Adler is said to have simply said on Saturday: "No comment." His current salary, which according to the French-speaking Swiss business magazine PME amounted to CHF 914,000 last year, speaks against an SRG job. As the top boss of the public broadcaster in Bern, he would earn just over half a million francs, according to the Sonntagszeitung.

The Total detergent brand has launched a new product on the market: Total minimax. The Zurich agency Exxtra Kommunikation has developed a print motif as a launch campaign for the new generation of detergents from Migros. A pristine Swiss landscape inside a washing machine dramatizes the environmentally friendly washing power of Total minimax.
In addition to advertisements, a tag-on attached to the current TV commercial draws attention to the new product. Both measures can be seen immediately.
Responsible at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, Zurich: Ursula Künzle (Project Manager Marketing Communication), Daniel Hasenfratz (Junior Project Manager), Marcel Frauchiger (Category Manager Washing/Cleaning), Sonja Bischofberger (Category Field Manager Washing). Responsible at Exxtra Kommunikation, Zurich: Dieter Hofmann (Creative Director), Andrea Dübendorfer (Art Director), Marietta Mügge (Text), Susan Baumgartner, Kathrin Steiger (Consulting).

The Basler Zeitung Baz appeared in its new page format for the first time on Friday. The culture section has now been reintegrated into the main paper. For around five years, this has been published as a separate magazine in tabloid format.
In future, the Baz will be published as a compact newspaper in four parts. The cultural section has been placed in the fourth volume. The first volume will continue to be dedicated to national and international politics. The regional section follows in the second bundle, while business and sport are assigned to the third bundle.